Unadulterated, politically incorrect, blunt and downright hilarious, Chris Rock rocked the stage at Hammersmith Apollo and made no apologies. The American comic kicked off his first UK tour in Hammersmith, which was unbelievably his first “official” visit to the UK and something that many of his fans across the Atlantic have been waiting to happen for a long time. After the controversy of his most recent visit to the Capital, at the Live Earth [1] event which was broadcast live on the BBC [2]. Before introducing the Red Hot Chili Peppers [3] Rock called the crowd "motherfuckers [4]". Due to the broadcast being at 5:45pm, Chris was immediately cut off and the BBC were forced to make several apologies in direct response to the complaints made by a minority of viewers. However I doubt that those who complained about the use of his language would have been present at the show.
For nearly two hours, he ripped into celebrities, politicians, and generally ranted about his usual subject matters such as women, inter-rational couples, relationships, racism and politics. Some of his victims were Britney Spears, Hillary Clinton and George Bush. He particularly raved about the strength of the pound in comparison to the U.S dollar. “In America, I’m a millionaire, I come to the U.K and I’m just another broke-ass nigga”. Considering he was performing his stand-up routine in the London for the very first time, he was extremely confident his jokes would translate to the audience.
Unlike most comedians there were no erratic showbiz piss-take, as he employed his dual trademarks of racial and social observations into one 90 minute long narrative, he suggested that white children are protected quicker than black ones in the U.S. “just look at Whitney Houston’s kids, he says, or O.J’s”
The controversial comedian had everyone in stitches, raised issues that everyone else was too afraid to address. Most ironically, he spoke the truth. Perhaps what separates Rock from his peers is not the content of his jokes, or comedic his style, or even his notorious delivery, it is his alarmingly accurate analysis of American society and the world in general.
In a set full of topical material, Rock began with the Democrat presidential primaries and found rich pickings. The upcoming U.S election was a subject matter he spoke of greatly; the potential face-off between a black man and a white woman, says Rock, is like a “suffering contest”. Which oppressed group most deserves a crack at the presidency?
To Rock, as to countless comedians before him, men and women are diametrically opposed. Women are motivated by money and security, men by sex. "Fellas", he says, "if you lose your job, you gonna lose your woman."
It is well known that Rock’s influences range from the likes of Richard Pryor [5], Bill Cosby [6], Eddie Murphy [7] and Woody Allen [8] to name a few. Nevertheless, I do not think it is an overstatement to suggest that Rock may soon be remembered amongst Comedy’s all-time greats alongside those who inspired him from the beginning. A man of many talents, the former Academy Awards host has also written a book, “Rock This”, and released two comedy albums and he was recently voted by “Comedy Central [9]” as the fifth greatest stand-up comedian of all time. He also produces, writes, narrates and occasionally directs the TV comedy “Everybody Hates Chris” and was once voted the funniest person in America by Entertainment Weekly.
Prior to the show, I anticipated a profanity-filled outburst on current affairs, “black” jokes, which are the stock in trade of many African-American comedians. Rock instead covered various topics such as politics, current affairs, celebrity-showbiz-news; he spoke of his past experience of being a young black boy from a working class family going to an all white School in “white-ass” suburbs in Brooklyn, New York.
After the show I was delighted that Rock shared his unique humor with us Brits. I knew of Rock’s talent previous to seeing the show at Hammersmith but I did not anticipate the substance of his content and the brilliance of his execution.
In the end, I felt privileged to watch a great comedian in his prime.
A great night out.
By Hannah Ali
delicious [10] | 
digg [11] | 
reddit [12] | 
newsvine [13] | 
furl [14] | 
google [15] | 
yahoo [16] | 
technorati [17] | 
icerocket [18]